Combined Unit Plan Assessment and Evaluation - 2007

Unit Name: Genetics
Author: Dan
Evaluator: Jay

This assessment is a combination of two different forms. The first is meant to provide feedback on the degree that the unit plan has incorporated the main ideas about science teaching stressed in EDC 430 this semester. The second is the URI School of Education Rubric that is used across all the teaching methods courses to make sure that the Rhode Island Beginning Teacher Standards (RIBTs) are being addressed.

Completeness and Organization

Criteria	Points/Possible	Comments
1. Is the unit plan organized in a way that makes sense?	1/(01)
2. Are all the components present? (e.g. Purpose, Concept Map or Outline, 10 Day Lesson Sequence, 3 Long Lessons, Rationale citing how students learn, Assessment strategy.)	7/(12)	Missing concept map
3. Is the writing clear, engaging, proofread, formatted, etc.	1/(02)	Lesson descriptions too brief.

Content

Criteria	Points/Possible	Comments
4. Are the standards unpacked to indicate subtopics? Student preconceptions?	1(02)	Subtopics listed, but not described.
5. Does each lesson include learning performances, i.e. statements about what students will be able to do at the end of the lesson?	1/(02)	Learning performances not expressed as actions that cna be assessed for understanding.
6. Do the plans have students doing something every day? Do students experience phenomena related to the topic?	1/(02)	It is not clear what students are doing during lectures.
7. Do laboratory activities include sufficient time/instruction for students to do/learn about science practices?	2/ (02)

Assessment

Criteria	Points/Possible	Comments
8. Do the long lesson plans include questions that allow for formative assessment?	1/(02)	Questions not present.
9. Are students assessed at a variety of cognitive levels?	1/(02)	Questions not present.

Overall impression

10. What will students love (or at least enjoy) about this unit?

11. What might be added to make this unit more engaging?

---

---

SOE Unit Plan Rubric

---

Score: 2 Evidence/ Comments:

Grade span expectations not included in explanation of learning goals.

---

Score: 2 Evidence/ Comments:

Though activities could be engaging and well sequenced, lesson descriptions are too brief to determine how they will be enacted.

---

Score: 2 Evidence/ Comments:

Statement of goals very brief.

---

Score: 3 Evidence/ Comments:

A variety of representations and experiences are used.

---

Score: 2 Evidence/Comments:

Little attention is given to introducing daily topic and engaging students' interests.

---

Score: 2 Evidence/Comments:

Specific plans for supporting students in lecture activities missing.

---

Score: 1 Evidence/Comments:

Opportunities for technology use are not present.

---

Score: 2 Evidence/Comments:

Worksheets are described but missing from lesson plans.

---

Score: 2 Evidence/Comments

It is not clear that students are given challenging tasks.

---

Evidence/Comments:

Not yet evaluated

---

Score: 3 Evidence/Comments:

Spelling and word usage is fine. Descriptions of teacher actions should be bulleted.

---

Detailed Feedback

Purpose

• You describe the main topics, but you do not provide an overview of how you will teach these topics, what types of activities students will engage in, and why you think these activities will meet their needs.

Concept Map / Visual Representation

• Not present.

Learning Goals

• As I suggested on Oct 22 (see page's discussion area), you need to expand on each of your subtopics in order to communicate what each one means in terms of your teaching.
• This page seems to be directed to other biology teachers, but you should assume your audience does not know as much biology as you do

Rationale

• Smooth out language used in each paragraph. Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence. When you're referring to specific resources, eg. "Sponge Bob...," but these names in quotes. Don't assume your reader knows what you're talking about.

Lesson Sequence

L01 - Introduction to Genetics / Meiosis

• Overview - Should explain what students will learn, what they will do, and why.
• Learning Performances - What will students be able to do after this lesson? Please review the last few pages of the Chiapetta reading assigned in class for a refresher on how to write an objective.
• Introducing the Lesson - When you ask this question, what answers do you expect? How will you follow up? What will you say to introduce the topic of the lesson (and unit) and their goals for the day?
  • Key point: If you plan to do something or say something in class, you should represent that statement in your plans as a bulleted point, else you may or may not remember to do it during each period.
• Instructional activities
  • Slow down. Represent this paragraph as a sequence of bullets, and explain the importance of each step.
  • Your core question, how do students get their traits, is a good one... why would you answer it for them?
  • Can you represent mitosis and then introduce meiosis so that they understand why meiosis is necessary?
  • What representations (diagrams, videos, etc) can you use to help students understand the difference between the two processes?
  • When you ask a question like "What do you think this looks like," what happens when there is NO response? What do you say? Do?
• Concluding lesson
  • Good to review main points, but if you have been talking all period, they will not hear you.
  • I'm glad to see that you are using the text. If they're not used to this, will they understand the purpose of their notecards? Should the notecards include just words or diagrams as well?
• Assessment
  • When will students write this paper? Do you have a rubric for evaluating them? Will you share the rubric?
• Rationale
  • I agree with your reasoning, but you should clarify why you feel that this is an effective approach. What theoretical ideas suggest that you should connect to students' out-of-school experiences/questions? Why should you begin by reviewing mitosis? What would you say if you had to justify this lesson to the parents of your students?

*References

• Nice that you cited your sources. Why did you choose the student's unit plan that you cited? How do you know whether this unit has ever been enacted?

L02: Understanding Meiosis

• Lesson Overview: Tell us more! What will students see? do? produce? What will you do?
• Learning Performances: Student will "understand" is not acceptable. What will students be able to do that will allow you to assess their understanding?
• Materials
  • What about your presentation? What do you need in order to make this presentation?
• Introducing Lesson
  • Quiz? You did NOT mention this in the previous plan. What makes you think you would remember to announce this. If you spring them on them the second day you're teaching, they may decide to roast you, and I would not blame them. Think back. What would YOU do in their place?
  Based on the question you name, this is not a reading quiz, but a drill about the previous day's lesson. This is not a quiz. Save yourself by not using that word to describe it.
  • Will you explain the day's activity? Introduce a new question? Explain the day's learning goal?
• Instructional activities
  • It is hard to determine what you and the students will actually be doing here. Are you handing out copies of the diagrams that you attached and walking them through a process? If so, you should include your main points you want to be sure to include. Will you use the powerpoint slides from a college level genetics class you referenced? Will students be taking notes? If so, what questions will you be asking as you go?
• Concluding the Lesson -
  • You should answer my prompt questions and then delete them.
• Assessment
  • You need to determine throughout the lesson if students are following you. This is true especially for lecturing.
  Note: Let me be clear about this: I believe that any lecture that: lasts more than 20 minutes (tops) and/or does not involve interacting with students via questions and/or is not followed by a twenty minute exploration/application activity is most probably a waste of instructional time (and energy). Ask yourself: Who is doing the cognitive work during this period?
• Rationale
  • Why are you teaching this topic by lecture?
  • I agree that your students may benefit from the handouts. Don't you think they will benefit more if you gave them some guidance on what to write on them?

L03 - Meiosis

• Overview - Use the overview to summarize the activity. What will students be doing and why? What are the critical understandings?
• Learning performances - At the end of this activity, all you want students to be able to do is explain the steps of meiosis? Aren't they applying these ideas in some way?
• Materials
  • The lab packet's last two pages are of poor quality and could cause problems. Be sure to use clean copy of all pages, or you will spend time each period describing what students "should" be seeing.
  • Note that the packet is five pages long, which could constitute a big collating job for you sometime before the day of the lesson. Copying two sided will halve the number of pages you have to take home to grade.
• Introducing the activity
  • It is good to ask if students have questions, but you also need to sell the upcoming activity to them. What is the question of the day? What will they learn? Why? What will they be doing?
• Instructional activities
  • How will you group students? Why?
  • Have you done this activity yourself? If not, you need to do it and be prepared to demo the difficult steps.
  • You also need to guide students on what your expectations for their answers. Are single words enough? If not, what do you want? Are there key questions that you will focus on when you assess them? If so which?
  • You should also preview the cleanup so they know that you will stop them early to clean up and discuss what they did today.
• What will you do during this activity? Will you walk around? What questions will you ask?
• Concluding the Lesson
  • You need to stop them in time to make some sense of their progress up to that time. What questions will you ask?
• Assessment
  • How will you assess students' understanding from the lab packet.
• Rationale
• I agree that students will benefit from this type of reinforcement activity.